Touch
by silverbells92
Summary: H/Hr: Cause it feels like the world disappears around us when we dance and we laugh and we touch. DHP1 spoilers, dance scene.


**A/N: My take on the Harry/Hermione dance scene from DHP1, since it's the hip thing to do right now.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, this initial concept, or the song lyrics. Thank JK Rowling, the writers of the Deathly Hallows movie, and Natasha Bedingfield for all of that.  
**

* * *

_Every choice we make_  
_And every road we take_  
_Every interaction_  
_Starts a chain reaction_  
_We're both affected when we least expect it_  
_And then when we touched_  
_And it all connected_

* * *

I was beginning to lose signal on the radio, unable to make out any of the names the announcer was saying. I didn't want to change the station, in fear that they might say the name of someone Harry and I knew while I wasn't listening. It didn't take much longer though for the static to become too much for me to bare, so I switched the channel quickly and listened around for something else. A familiar song was on one of the stations I tuned in to, causing me to pause. I struggled to think of where I had heard the song from. With abrupt clarity, I remembered that the first time I'd listened to this song, I was in the car with my parents. Memories of them began to take over my thoughts, which sent my mood on a downward spiral from bad to worse. From reliving the moment when the man I love left no matter how much I begged him not to, to reliving the moment when I had to erase all of my mum's and dad's memories for their safety? Isn't there anywhere in my head that I can find a bit of happiness?

Obviously not.

A tear or two managed to escape from where many more were brimming, but I didn't full-on cry like I had been for the past few days; I was too tired for that right now. I heard Harry come in from outside and I saw him in my peripheral vision as he walked across the tent to a chair on the other side of the room from me. Even as I felt him watching me, I didn't look up. I was still on the verge of crying and I knew he wasn't the best at handling girls when they cried. Swiftly wiping my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt, I tried to calm down and take deep, soothing breaths.

The only sound to fill the tent was the song coming from the little radio. A few moments later, I heard Harry stand from his seat and walk toward me. I didn't look at him until he was directly in front of me, waiting expectantly for me to take his hands. I stared at him for a second before I gave in, grabbing hold of his outstretched hands and allowing him to pull me to my feet.

Then we simply stood there, looking at each other. I tried to analyze his expression like I normally would, but I felt too drained to thoroughly do so. He looked sort of emotionless, neither smiling nor really frowning. He brought his hands up toward my neck, but I kept my eyes fixed on his face, watching him. I decided that he looked more exhausted than anything, and I couldn't blame him; I felt quite the same way these days. He looked away from my blatant, almost rude stare as he unhooked the locket and threw it to the side. Instantly, I started feeling my energy and mood both rise considerably, though I was still very tired and very upset.

Then my friend did something I didn't expect from him. He grabbed my hands once more and pulled me toward the center of tent, where he began to sway oddly, moving my arms in a 'give-and-take', sort of circular motion. I looked at him with exasperation, halfheartedly hoping he would stop. I knew he was trying to cheer me up - this boy wouldn't dance even if you paid him, and yet here he was doing just that. But I just wasn't in the mood for this. It felt wrong to have fun when Ron wasn't with us. But as Harry continued to move around in such a silly way that could barely be called dancing, I felt my resolve steadily falling away. A grin was starting to spread across my face, which caused him to smile in return, looking a bit accomplished as well as pleased. He had defeated my reluctance and got me to participate in his absurd dancing.

We spun and laughed and soon enough, it seemed like nothing outside of this tent mattered. Like everything in the world would be alright, so long as we just kept moving. Harry was acting sillier than I've ever seen him act before. He allowed me to twirl him around under my arm like a girl, which made me laugh the hardest. It was the first time I've ever seen him act without thinking, outside of Quidditch and dangerous battles. He seemed to be completely happy and completely free, without any shame or fear of being embarrassed or judged, all in the name of cheering me up.

I felt a rush of gratitude and affection toward him and pulled him close to me. He didn't hesitate to hug me right back, one arm wrapped around me while his opposite hand still held on to one of mine. I rested my head on his shoulder as he nuzzled the side of his face into my neck, our dancing suddenly slowing down by a lot. We went from grand, over-exuberant movements to spinning slowly in the middle of the floor.

Though I've hugged my dark-haired friend many times over the years, I've never been this close to him for this long. My body was pressed into his firmly, but not in an uncomfortable way. And the way he leaned into me, tightening his grip just the slightest bit...well, I would be a liar if I said it didn't make my heart beat just a bit faster.

Then the song came to an end. We still held each other for a moment after the music stopped, but eventually we had to pull away so that it wouldn't turn awkward. As I looked into his brilliant green eyes, I had the strangest urge to just kiss him. Kiss him and continue to forget about the world just a little bit longer. I felt everything already starting to rush back to me and I wasn't ready for it all to come crashing back down on me yet. I noticed that Harry looked a little conflicted himself, which made my heart race a little more. _Was he going to kiss me?_

Suddenly, I wasn't sure if I wanted him to do it or not, even though I had been all for jumping him just a second before. It wouldn't be right if he did kiss me - it was the reason that Ron left us, and that was just because he had an incorrect suspicion about Harry and I doing such things behind his back. And I loved Ron now, which meant that kissing his best friend would be a disaster that should only live in dramatic soap operas.

At the same time though, my curiosity was peaked. Though I've never admitted it to anyone, I used to (emphasis on 'used to') have a bit of a crush on Harry and had always hoped for a moment like this. I silently cursed every star that I has wished on for bringing me my wish when it was entirely too late. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when Harry took a tenative step toward me, reaching out to gently grab my arm. His action caused me to look up at him, erasing any thought of rejecting him. His expression was so nervous and shy - which was quite endearing - but his eyes were so intense that I couldn't look away, even though they were slightly unnerving as they were hypnotic.

Maybe, just one little kiss... If I let it go now, I might regret it forever. Besides, my life is much like a soap opera right now anyway...

He rested his forehead on mine, his nose lightly brushing my own, and my mind went blank. I registered that his hand had moved from my arm to my waist at some point, although I don't remember when. I also realized that I could feel his scar, though it was almost unnoticeable. It seemed like we just stood there for hours, neither of us making the first move in fear of rejection. I opened my eyes, which had drifted shut on their own accord at some point, and saw that he was looking at me as well.

I don't know what made me do it, but I chose to push forward then, pressing my lips to his rather forcefully. He seemed caught off guard at first, which I found silly; Harry was the one that got us to this point, wasn't he? Soon enough though, he kissed me back.

Despite its rough beginning, our kiss was actually really sweet and slow. It definitely ended before I was ready, but I didn't dive right back in for more. Neither did he. As we looked at each other, both of us trying to catch our breath, I knew that that kiss would be our only one. While it felt so good, we had other people. Other people that loved us dearly, and we loved them in return. Our kiss wasn't a mistake in my eyes, not in the slightest. But it didn't shake us up enough to make us disregard who we are meant to be with: the boy I was waiting on and the girl that was waiting on Harry.

A blush started to come to Harry's face as he became more and more flustered by the second. He cleared his throat before he began frantically apologizing. "I'm really sorry, Hermione, I really am. We...I-"

"It's alright, Harry," I interrupted, chuckling. "I was the one that kissed you. If we just forget that it happened and move on, it'll all be fine."

The dark-haired boy instantly relaxed as he nodded in agreement. He seemed very relieved that I wasn't planning on holding him fully responsible or forcing him to have a lengthy discussion about what had transpired between us just a moment ago. I was too exhausted for any sort of discussion even if I wanted one. Plus, there was nothing else to say about it. We kissed, what's done is done. All we needed to do was move on.

I reached over to take his hand. "Thanks for cheering me up. Though your methods were a bit unorthodox at times. I really appreciate it."

He shrugged dismissively. "I just wanted to see you smile."

My heart swelled at his sweet comment, causing a wide smile to spread across my face. I gave his hand one final squeeze before I let it go and headed outside to take my post for the night.

* * *

_'Cause it feels like the world disappears around us_  
_When we dance_  
_When we laugh_  
_When we touch_

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**Fact: This is the first time I've ever written a kissing scene. So if it sucks...oh well.**

**I think I went a little crazy...just kidding, I know I did. This is kind of how I wanted it to go though, so I couldn't resist; SCREW REALITY. I tried to make it as canon as possible though, which is why they didn't screw like rabbits...I mean, fall in instantaneous love in the end, which is something I hate anyway. So if you dislike this for that reason, then I'm sure there's another fanfic like this that will fill your needs. Haters gonna hate. Also, the song was called 'Touch' by Natasha Bedingfield.  
**

**Reviews are encouraged; they might help me suck less.**


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